Despite encouraging lap times in Monaco, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon express concerns over car balance and inconsistent on-track performance.
A promising start for Williams F1 in Monaco with the 8th and 13th fastest times in Free Practice 2 this Friday.
Albon Quick, Car Unsettled
Alex Albon was the quicker of the two drivers, having even set the 4th fastest time in Free Practice 1.
“I don’t think we’re entirely happy with the car just yet. You need rhythm in Monaco, and today was quite disrupted by yellow and red flags, so I haven’t really found the feeling. We’re relatively quick, but the car is still not where we want it to be. So we need to analyze the data, make changes tonight, and get ready for tomorrow.”
Sainz Struggles With Setup
Carlos Sainz, who was 7th in Free Practice 1, ended up 13th in the second session.
“We started FP1 with a car that didn’t give me much confidence, but I still managed to put in some good laps. I had setup work to do, and for FP2 we made changes that unfortunately didn’t work and took us a step back. We’ve got work to do for tomorrow, but I’m confident we can find the right balance and get ready for qualifying.”
Albon fears unsporting tactics with the two-stop rule in Monaco
A driver could hold up others for his teammate
Alexander Albon anticipates that Formula 1’s new regulation for the Monaco Grand Prix may encourage more teams to deliberately slow down their rivals.
Overtaking is so difficult on Monaco’s narrow circuit that drivers can easily run at a much slower pace than race speed without being held up by others.
One team could take advantage of this situation this weekend, as F1 has introduced a special rule requiring each driver to make two pit stops during Sunday’s Grand Prix. While the leading driver maintains a normal pace, the second driver could be instructed to slow down, creating a gap that allows the first car to pit without traffic.
Albon pointed out that Haas used a similar tactic at last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He collided with Kevin Magnussen, who was lapping slowly to help his teammate Nico Hülkenberg gain an advantage.
“In the midfield, it’s all about teammates helping each other. A good example would be Jeddah last year with Haas, where Kevin orchestrated a race by almost crawling around the track and gave Nico a free stop.”
“On a track like this, with two stops, that’s definitely possible. We don’t want a race like that.”
“That doesn’t mean I think two stops is a bad idea. I think we have to try something, but it might not really change the racing style.”
Another possible scenario could see multiple drivers pitting at the end of the first lap to get their first mandatory stop out of the way as soon as possible.
“Obviously, we’re doing this to shake things up, and the problem is that it might not change anything and could create a situation right from lap one where everyone dives into the pits and tries to gain space to use the second, third, fourth, fifth laps – whatever – to push.”
“Who knows? The most important thing, if you talk to the team and all the strategists, is that we really don’t know how this is going to play out.”
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